EPILOGUE
The Fading Sun was loud, dark, and crowded, full of rough customers from a dozen worlds. Including myself, I supposed, now that I was in the business of running the hastily renamed Artist’s Revenge. We weren’t legally pirates, but we skirted the line close enough.
Varok waved me over to the booth he shared with his two brothers, one of whom held a gorgeous human woman tight in his arms. Varok slid an arm around me, pulling me in for a kiss. Across the table, his brother looked up at me, eyes narrowing before his human companion elbowed him in the ribs.
“Ignore Kreel, he just doesn’t want to get outdone by his brother,” she said, extending a hand to me. “I’m Rachel, and I’m pleased to meet you, Penny.”
I grinned and took her hand. “Pleasure’s mine, Rachel. Or should I say Your Highness?”
She blushed. “I’m not a real princess, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure stealing the heir to the Martian throne still beats stealing a random art thief.”
Her alien grinned and focused on Varok.
“Brother, you have done well, but your mate is correct. She does not compare to my Rachel.”
Varok was on his feet at once, muscles taut under his silver skin. I put a hand on his chest to hold him back.
“Relax, my love, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter if he thinks his girl’s prettier than me; all I care about is how you feel.”
“No,” he said, though he didn’t try to push past my hand to reach his brother. “No, in you I have stolen the finest star in the sky, the most beautiful female in the universe, the greatest treasure ever known. I agree, Kreel has a beautiful bride, but you are far finer.”
The third brother, quiet until now, rose from his seat. Huge and muscular even compared to his siblings, Zakar leaned forward and pushed the two apart.
“Both of you are wonderful,” he said to Rachel and me. “Beautiful, clever, fierce, and strong-willed. It is pointless to waste time fighting over which of you is the ‘best.’ Especially since neither of my brothers will win our little bet.”
Both Kreel and Varok turned as one to glare at their brother. “I suppose you believe you’ve stolen something better?”
“Oh, yes.” The huge Argentian laughed. “Let me tell you a tale…”
The End
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